Summary of “The Gay Architects of Rock”

Up until 1967, being gay was illegal in Britain, and long after that law changed, gay men remained a target of police entrapment, blackmail and beatings. Martin Aston, the author of “Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache: How Music Came Out,” said the connection between rock’s gay managers and image molding stems from the fact that “Gay men at the time would be judged almost entirely on how they looked. It wasn’t like there were lots of nice places to go and have lovely conversations. It was all communicated through cruising.” As a result, Mr. Aston said, gay men developed a comfort with the art of being seen, “As opposed to straight men, who, before the phenomenon of the ‘metrosexual,’ were threatened by the notion of being looked at, of becoming an object.” “The foppishness of rock stars is like the peacock, where the male is the beautiful one, not the female. That became the forefront in rock ‘n’ roll, encouraged by the gay managers.” Straight rock stars also found that appropriating the sensual awareness of gay men paid off in sexual opportunities. Still, given the vilification of homosexuality at the time, one might expect the rockers to have some discomfort with the gay men who advised them. At the same time, many of the gay men came from more refined backgrounds than the rockers, an experience they transferred to their charges. At the same time, the gay men involved with the bands found a route to power.